


Parent

by hawkstout



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alfred appreciation, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-28
Updated: 2013-08-28
Packaged: 2017-12-24 21:30:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/944873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkstout/pseuds/hawkstout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick Grayson has two great teachers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parent

**Author's Note:**

> So my hand is wrapped in a bandage and it’s gotten in the way of my typing so I’m doing a bunch of short fic prompts while I wait for it to heal so I can go back to my long fics. They’re all 500 words more or less.
> 
> wafflechocobo’s Prompt:
> 
> Dick and Alfred bonding?
> 
> I love Alfred and I loved writing this.

A lot of people accredit Dick Grayson to Batman.

They think it was Batman who trained Dick, taught him the code, taught him morals, raised him, fed him, kept him clothed and gave him a roof over his head. Batman was the one that adopted him and loved him.

They’re not wrong, but they’re forgetting a huge piece of the picture.

When he was a little boy at ten, in a huge empty mansion, Alfred Pennyworth would put a hand on his shoulder when he had those great moments of grief and terror. He would hug him, take his hand, lead him to the kitchen and make him a snack. Alfred would act out all the parts to all the great Shakespearian plays, and Dick would be on the ground laughing, tears in his eyes because it was so funny and Alfred cared enough to cheer him up.

Batman was always away a lot. Of course he was, he had to save Gotham, or sometimes he had to save the world and even when he let Dick in, Robin wasn’t always an appropriate sidekick for what he had to deal with. He would sit in the cave, or flip around because he couldn’t sit still and wait and hope and pray and Alfred would be with him and sometimes he would be silent, but sometimes he would say, “He’ll come back, Richard.”

And Dick would be afraid, but he would never fear the future because he had Alfred.

Training to be Robin was intense. And the one that made his healthy meals, bound his twisted ankles, corrected his criminology work, acted as his sparring partner and coach? It was Alfred as often as it was Batman. And Dick preferred those times because Batman demanded excellence and Alfred developed excellence. With a few words the best of Dick always seemed to come out.

When there were choices, moral choices in the mask and cape Dick, Robin would always think of what Batman would do. When he wasn’t wearing the mask, when a friend was hurt, when an old lady needed help crossing the street, when he had a chance to make the small differences in a person’s life, that was Alfred’s influence.

Dick loves Batman. Batman is his partner, his friend, the person that knows him best in the world. But Batman never tried to be Dick’s father. He never wanted to replace John and Mary Grayson. He didn’t think Dick wanted a parent.

But Alfred is Dick’s parent. His Grandfather that shaped the human side of Dick Grayson’s life. He learned so much from Batman, he learned justice and mercy, compassion, and tenacity. But he learned so much from Alfred too, friendship, loyalty, love.

And those are the lessons he treasures most because it was those lessons that helped him come to know Bruce Wayne and not Batman.

When people look at Nightwing they see Batman’s shadow over him. They attribute any light he gives off as a miracle, as his own resolve. They don’t see Alfred Pennyworth’s hand on his shoulder, casting back some of the shadows so that Dick Grayson becomes a man with two great teachers. Two great guardians.

So thank you Alfred. Thank you for making Bruce the man he is today. A Shadowy Bat who still takes a chance on a scared circus boy who just learned the meaning of alone, and thank you for making me who I am today.

Love, your son,

Richard John Grayson


End file.
